The Winery Hawk Creek of El Dorado County of California

Given the sheer climatic diversity, the California 2022 harvest was a story of variability, specific varieties and varied approaches to making it all work out. Yields are down, nearly across the board. Still, winemakers and vineyard managers report high-quality fruit throughout the state, and the prediction is that the potential for fantastic, complex wines is high. There was tremendous variability up and down (as well as across) the state. An uneven growing season, with uneven effects throughou ...

My book The Complete Bordeaux, which has been revised every five years, is soon to be published in its fourth edition. This may seem like excessive haste, given the scope of the book, but it is astonishing how rapidly changes can take place in the region. Burgundy, in contrast, is relatively stable, since most properties are family-owned and tend to stay that way. But not so in Bordeaux, where there are ample opportunities for newcomers to acquire established properties, as they have been doing ...

AXA Millésimes has expanded its footprint in California by purchasing Platt Vineyard on the western reaches of Sonoma Coast for an undisclosed sum. The French insurance giant’s wine division made its first foray into the Golden State when it bought Napa Valley winery Outpost back in 2018. Managing director Christian Seely has been on the hunt for a vineyard of similar quality to produce Pinot Noir and Chardonnay ever since. AXA Millésimes jumped at the opportunity to snap up the 111-hectare Plat ...